Game commission to monitor for CWD

Deer season will once again bring state officials out in force, testing for the first sign of chronic waste disease (CWD) in local herds.

Although the disease has not yet been found in the state, members of the state game commission and department of agriculture will be collecting samples from hunters starting this Tuesday.

“I think the aim is to be aggressive and be ready to act if it is discovered,” said Barry Zaffuto, the southwest region land management supervisor for the game commission.

That means that six processing sites across the state, the closest being in Ligonier, will incorporate CWD testing into the regular biological surveys they conduct on harvested deer.

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“We're set across the state. We'll physically touch thousands of those deer,” he said.

CWD is of particular concern to wildlife agencies because it is transmissible, has no known cure and is nearly always fatal, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Web site.

First identified in 1967, CWD is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy that affects cervids, including all species of deer, elk and moose.

Scientists have speculated that prions, a protein form which causes the disease, become more easily transmitted among deer and elk in large herds or captivity. Studies have shown that those prions can be found in the saliva and feces of infected animals. Once infected, the animal's brain and central nervous system is progressively damaged, eventually killing it.

Officials are quick to point out that CWD is not known to be transmittable to humans, but those same officials recommend simple precautions when hunting or processing the animals.

Hunters should wear rubber gloves when dressing deer or elk in the field and they should never shoot or eat animals that appear sick, Zaffuto said.

If an animal appears sick, hunters should contact their local game commission office immediately, he said. “We rely on those people out there in the field for a lot of our observations,” he said.

Symptoms of an infected deer or elk include lowered head and ears, uncoordinated movement, weight loss, increased thirst and excessive drooling. Deer harboring CWD may not show any symptoms in the disease's early stages. The usual incubation period for CWD is around 12 to 24 months, according to the USDA.

Despite never finding the disease in Pennsylvania, 14 states and two Canadian provinces have reported CWD, Zaffuto said.

The closest break-out was reported in New York, where officials took decisive measures to contain the infected herd, he said.

“Basically they set up an action zone and depopulated the site,” he said. “The idea is to hopefully stop it where it is. Of course, that's a course of action we hope to not have to take.”

Current deer populations in Pennsylvania are likely not at high risk to succumb to the disease, he said. “We're not seeing large herds of deer right now. When the animals are kept close together, like in captivity, is where we've encountered it.”

The game commission, with the assistance of the state and U.S. Department of Agriculture, has conducted tests on nearly 240 elk and more than 14,000 deer killed by hunters since 2002, according to a recent release from the commission.

Commission deer aging teams at the six regional sites will be collecting deer heads throughout the two-week concurrent rifle deer season.

The CWD tests on those samples will be conducted at the University of Pennsylvania's veterinary diagnostic laboratory at the New Bolton Center in Chester County. Results are expected in 2008.